The Assembly's Board of Directors has studied the effects this project will have on the Assembly experience and value, and has determined a course of action. We will seek to install wooden fencing at least 7 feet high to partially address noise concerns. We also seek to plant a new border on the Assembly side of the fence primarily to address sight lines.

The new planter bed border is envisioned to be 12 feet wide and would provide foreground interest and beauty, while establishing deciduous and evergreen trees that will gradually grow to provide screening.

We estimate the cost of Lalla's Memorial Garden to be $25,000. This includes the cost of the plants, the loam and compost plant bed soil, mulch, and temporary irrigation for the first three years. Labor would be provide by the Assembly.

A $2,000 anonymous donation has been received to establish the Lalla's Memorial Garden Fund. We ask you for your financial support at any level in support of this deeply meaningful and worthy project, which will be an important part of the future of the Fryeburg New Church Assembly.

With Building & Grounds Committee members Dave Richardson and Colgate Searle leading the big projects, and B&G member Nancy Little in charge of the rest of the To Do List and meals, everything ran smooth as toast for the entire weekend.

The camp historian and his able helper spent their time beginning a catalog of our old camp files and records. This will eventually became a searchable database. The camp historian also spent many, many hours going through meeting minutes of the "Women's Auxiliary of the Fryeburg New-Church Assembly" dating continuously from 1935-1975, as well as reading extensive correspondence on file dating back to 1912! These 1912 pieces were the original letters between Rev. John Whitehead, Walter A. Robinson, Rev. Baman Stone, and Rev. Herbert Small about starting the FNCA. There will be a report about this project as an Evening Activity during the second week of camp this summer. In the meantime, be sure to check out the brand-new FNCA Time Line which is now in the FNCA History menu.

Everyone at Work Weekend enjoyed the excellent meals, thanks to the planning, prep work, and able leadership of Nancy Little and her crew.

And with all that, there was still plenty of time in the evenings for socializing, various games and entertainments, and both serious and silly conversation among friends old and new.

A great big THANK YOU goes out to everyone who attended Work Weekend 2016! Thanks for your hard work, comaraderie, and cheerful participation in this very important event that saves us thousands and thousands of dollars every year.

In the absence of Rev. Currie, Trevor offered the invocation to open the meeting. Then the previous meeting's minutes were acccepted, and all that jazz that you have to do at the beginning of the meeting.

Bob Perry offered his treasurer's report, with the Board discussing two aspects of it: 1. the discrepancy between "camper days" (the total number of campers housed each night all added together) and the number of meals served due to unregistered visitors sharing meals with us but not spending the night, and 2. investment of some or all of the two large donations we received last year.

There were also reports on and/or discussions about:
1. scholarships
2. purchasing waterfront equipment
3. the Dole 3 Miler
4. facility rentals
5. the Outreach Committee
6. creating a Youth Coordinator position
7. membership list and collecting dues
8. doing email outreach during the year using an email contact program like MailChimp
9. fundraising ideas
10. lecture themes will be "Uses" and "The Teachings of Jesus", with which theme which week to be determined later
11. the Rev. Everett K. Bray Visiting Lecturer
12. Opening Weekend Program
13. a new volunteer to record lectures
14. the rates this year will be the same as last year
15 filling the void created by discontinuing the bulletin
16. the Building & Grounds Committee's to do list
17. restoring the Whitehead Hall piano
18. the future work that's going to be done on Rte. 302 starting in 2017 or 2018 and how it will effect our property
19. the property next door that is for sale
20. Work Weekend.

All in all, it was an easy-flowing, productive meeting with smiles and laughter along with the serious discussions and decisions.

The FNCA Outreach Committee (with the approval of the Board) decided earlier this Spring to discontinue the bulletin.

Through a series of unfortunate events (primarily massive computer failure), the printing date for the bulletin kept being pushed further and further from the traditional late February early March, with no relief in sight. Meanwhile, online registration opened up and camp registrations began pouring in.

Sometime in mid-April, the problems still had not been resolved, and there was still little possibility for the bulletin to happen in even vaguely close to a timely manner... and registrations kept coming in.

That got a few members of the Outreach Committee thinking: Why are we doing all this work every year to produce the bulletin which (prior to the internet) was how we communicated with our membership about registering for camp, if all the information in the bulletin is already online before the bulletin is printed and everyone is registering without it?

So, after an actually rather short online discussion, the Outreach Committee voted unanimously to discontinue the bulletin. Here's nine reasons why:

1. All the info in the bulletin is available on the website, some of it in more depth because there are no space restrictions there.
2. Virtually everyone (pun intended) registers online, a large percentage of them before the bulletin even comes out.
3. The internet has become our primary means of connecting with our membership and friends, via email, Facebook, and our website.
4. Each year, it takes 7-12 volunteers a total of more than 40 hours to produce the bulletin. It's especially a lot of work for the bulletin editor.
5. It costs the Assembly around $1,000 each year to print and mail the bulletin.
6. More than 50% of the bulletin content is the exact same information year after year after year, and — with very few exceptions — is basically only read by non-attendees and potential newbies who are either on our mailing list or else picked up a copy somewhere.
7. Most regulars only look at the themes, the photos, the rates, and a few random pages here and there anyhow.
8. It is very hard to justify the huge amount of work and the sizeable cost of producing the bulletin each year considering the rather negligible results and the fact that all the info in the bulletin is already on our website long before the bulletin comes out.
9. It's just SO last century!

It's time to move on, my friends. Yes, many of us get nostalgic for the Good Old Days (can we please go back to Friday night bean supper on the lawn? Please, please, please, please, please?), but the bulletin has served its purpose and served it well... and that purpose is now better served by other means.

So, please join everyone in waving goodbye to the FNCA bulletin: You have lead a long and useful life and we were glad to know you!

R.I.P.

Waltham MA - 1/24/15

FNCA Board of Directors Mid-Winter Meeting Highlights

The FNCA Board of Directors held their regular mid-winter meeting at Studio Crossing, a coworking office space in Waltham MA. Special thanks to Board member Bob Perry for arranging this. With four member Skyping in from Pennsylvania and Maine, all 13 members of the Board were able to be in attendance despite the snowstormy weather.

All the usual stuff got done: reports from the treasurer and some committee chairs, set the rates, choose the lecture themes, select an Opening Weekend Program presenter, discuss the bulletin, etc. --- all the usual stuff.

So the interesting stuff is:

1. The FNCA received an unrestricted $25,000 grant from the Lydia S. Rotch Fund! This fund dispersed a boodle of money as part of transitioning over to management by Convention. Special thanks to Rotch Fund trustee, life-long FNCA member, core lecturer, and former camp director and Board member Rev. Gard Perry for his part in this.

2. The first annual Rev. Dr. George F. Dole Celebration Three Mile Road Race, which was held middle Saturday last year on the rail trail which starts at the Maine Information Center directly across the street from the Assembly, netted about $4,000! Nearly half the people at camp last year participated in the race, and many people we haven't seen at camp for years showed up middle weekend to be a part of it.

This summer, the race will again be held in the morning on middle Saturday. The Summer Session Committee will be discussing a way to still somehow fit the day's lectures and classes in this year.

Lots of local businesses donated financial support and/or prizes. Six local running clubs sent representatives to participate in the inaugural race last year, and all six told us that they would definitely recommend our race to their clubs! So this year, we expect at least double both participation and donors. Yipee!

Huge thanks to Race Director Jon Crowe and the entire Race Committee as well as to the crowd of local people and Assembly members who helped before, during, and after this huge new event we've started.
And this writer would especially like to give a big thank you to Outreach Committee member Nancy Little who's idea this race was in the first place. THANK YOU, NANCY!

3. The 2015 lecture themes will be Mothers in the Bible and The Doctrine of Life. It has yet to be determined which theme will be which week, but it will appear on the website as soon as that decision is made.

4. The Board accepted a proposal to initiate the Rev. Everett K. Bray(pictured right)Visiting Lecturer Program to pay for airfare to camp each year for one (or more) prominent Swedenborgian scholar(s) who is beyond normal travel distance to camp. There was also talk of establishing an endowment fund for this purpose.

5. The Board voted to fully fund a van to bring teens to camp from the Mid-West. This used to happen routinely every year but has not panned out the last few of years resulting in the number of Flames at camp being considerably lower than usual because of that. (Now all we need is a driver.)

6. Hits on the FNCA website more than doubled in 2014 over the year before, in both unique users and total hits. This means that more people are spending more time on our site. One very interesting note is that someone is systematically going through all the Downloadable Lectures and (presumably) listening to them!

8. Did you know that members can rent the facility, anything from a single cabin to the entire camp, for anything from a private vacation to a major function, from Memorial Day to Labor day (except during camp, of course) for a day, a weekend, a week, or longer? Well, the former Non-Session Use Committee, chaired by Board member Beki Greenwood, very suitably renamed itself the Facilities Rental Committee, and the commitee chair is now called the Rental Coordinator. Makes more sense now, doesn't it?

9. Online registration will open March 1st with the bulletin going out shortly after that.

The family of Virginia Flynn Branston is pleased to announce that they have created an annual scholarship fund in loving memory of their Mom, Grandmother and Great Grandmother: The Virginia Branston FNCA Flames Scholarship Fund.

Virginia loved attending the Fryeburg New Church Assembly and shared that enthusiasm with her family. All of Virginia’s descendants were taken as Flames by their loving Matriarch to this oasis on the shores of the Saco River. To honor Virginia's memory, the family would like to extend this opportunity to other interested young people ages 13-22.

The scholarship will be open to a minimum of two Flames / Senior Flames per year who request the scholarship. It will be based on stated need, including either two full scholarships or multiple partial scholarships. Preference will be given to newcomers to the FNCA. If more than two people request that Virginia help them attend camp, the FNCA Scholarship Committee will determine who will be awarded the scholarships.

Please accept Virginia’s support and love just as her family has been blessed by her strength, wisdom, and relationship with God.

This choice to compete with the Oxford track team led to an accidental collision with sporting history when, on May 6, 1954 he found himself one of 6 runners in one of the most celebrated athletic events of all time: The first sub-four-minute mile, the record achievement of Roger Bannister.

The Fryeburg New Church Assembly is organizing the “Dole Three-Miler” as a celebration of the life, legacy and good humor of Rev. Dr. George F. Dole, his great love of family and friends, of nature, of running and healthy competition, and his love of God.

Although there will more than likely be harcore runners participating, there will also be a crowd of walkers who just want to support the cause. We will also need a crew of volunteers that morning to help run the race. Either way, please join us.

We are delighted to announce that Rev. Dr. Dole — now in is 80's and still running — will not only be leading off this new race held in his honor, but also will deliver a free public talk the evening before, Friday, August 8th, about that famous 1954 race.

Here's the scoop:

The Dole 3-MilerDate: Saturday, August 9, 2014 (middle Saturday)Time: 8:00 a.m.Where: The Mountain Division Rail Trail at the Maine Information Stand directly across the street from the FNCARegistration Fee: $20Proceeds will benefit: Fryeburg New Church Assembly, the Fryeburg New Church, and the Mountain Division Rail Trail.

More information, including registration and sponsorship, is available on the official race website here.

Cambridge MA — March 1, 2014

Board of Directors (Finally)
Has Their Mid-Winter Meeting

After being postponed twice because of impending snow storms, the FNCA Board of Directors mid-winter meeting, originally scheduled for January 5th, was finally held today at the Swedenborg Chapel (pictured right) in Cambridge MA.

Since some Board members had to leave early, the Board tried to make all decisions requiring a vote before the 1:00 lunch break. This provided for a quick and efficient meeting. Everything was actually discussed in full, but there were no side conversations and very few digressions from each adenda item.

The Board accepted the 2014 Lecture Themes and Opening Weekend Program theme from our Religious Program Coordinator, Rev. Susannah Currie. First week's theme is: "Divine Providence" and second week's theme is: "The Promised Land". The Opening Weekend Program will be on the theme: "Spiritual Practices Open Us to Divine Influx" presented by Jane Siebert.

The Board heard reports from the Treasurer, Camp Director, Building & Grounds Committee, Outreach Committee, and the Non-Session Use Coordinator; set the 2014 rates; discussed the camp pet policy; accepted a proposal from the Non-Session Use Coordinator for a significantly more extensive non-session rate schedule; and discussed other issues as well.

Here's one of the more exciting agenda items: The Board discussed at length a proposal from Jon Crowe of the Outreach Committee to hold the 1st Annual Rev. Dr. George F. Dole Road Race on the rail trail that starts at the information stand across the street from the Assembly! After vigorous discussion, the Board decided to go with it for this summer as a professionally timed race to be held during camp on the morning of middle Saturday, August 9, 2014. A committee consisting of Jon Crowe and the members of the Fundraising Committee (since this could be a major fundraising event) was appointed to iron out the rest of the details.

Due to our much compressed morning agenda, the afternoon part of the meeting was significantly shorter than planned. In fact, the Board set a new record for earliest adjournment ever: 2:42. Wow!

After a delicious pasta supper prepared by Nancy Little and Beki Greenwood, we got comfy in the den and dove into the agenda:
1. Positives and negatives of the 2012 camp session
2. A proposal for the Opening Weekend Program
3. Selecting lecture themes
4. Afternoon Book Club book selection
5. Relocation of the camp laundry facilities6. Staffing concerns

Everyone agreed that the 2012 session went very well with very few snags; we accepted Roslyn Taylor's Logopraxis Workshop proposal for the Opening Weekend Program; picked a couple of intriguing (we hope) lecture themes; heard Rev. Susannah Currie's report that the Afternoon Book Club book selection hinges on being able to get a possible case of her #1 choice in storage from the former Swedenborg Book Room in Boston (she has an alternate in mind if that doesn't pan out); agreed to request that the Buildings & Grounds Committee look into moving the laundry facilities out of the Mack Cabin so it can be more fully used for housing single young men; and discussed several staffing possibilites.

A special thanks to the Greenwoods for hosting the Summer Session Committee overnight in their home.

The meeting began with an invocation led by Rev. Susannah Currie, asking the Lord to guide us and help us keep in mind the spiritual purpose of our gathering. We heard reports from the treasurer, camp director, registrar, Outreach Committee, religious program coordinator, bulletin editor, Building & Grounds Committee, and the non-session use coordinator. After much discussion, we (finally) set the rates for this year's session.

At last summer's annual meeting, the membership voted to increase our loan from Convention by over 60% to pay for the new metal roof on the Main Building. The Board had a lively discussion around Tina Wood's suggestion last year that a good way to pay down our loan would be to get 12 people to agree to each donate one of our monthly $446 payments. Board president Colgate Searle suggested that it would be even better if we could encourage some of them to make a 3-year commitment so we wouldn't have to find 12 people again every year. This led into an extensive discussion about fundraising in general, something that we've talked about a lot but haven't really put much energy into. The Board as a whole made a commitment to put a concerted effort into this important function, and the FNCA Fundraising Committee was energized to be more active as well.

A very big THANK YOU goes to FNCA treasurer Bob Perry both for hosting the Board meeting as well as bringing in one of his cooks to prepare us a most delicious and nutritious lunch. YUM!

The Buildings & Grounds Committee gathered about 30 people ages 1-70+ at the Assembly grounds over Memorial Day weekend for FNCA Work Weekend 2012: a 3-day gathering of volunteers to help take care of some of the maintenance and upkeep of the facilities.

Thanks to this hard-working group of volunteers under the supervision of Dave Richardson (assisted by Nancy Little and Beki Greenwood), a very wide variety of projects were completed including:

There was a healthy contingent of kids in attendance, and although they didn't do much work, they played well together the entire Work Weekend. It's great that they are welcome and, coincidently, gets them in the habit of attending Work Weekend from a young age. Get 'em when they're young!

You may have noted above that there were teens from the Swedenborgian Church Youth League at the Assembly during Work Weekend. SCYL has been holding it's annual Memorial Day retreat at the FNCA for quite a few years now. It should be noted that it works out quite well having two separate groups (nearly 50 people this year) using the grounds at the same time. Convention Youth Director, Kurt Fekete, said this was one of the best retreat weekends they've ever had.

It's great to have so many Work Weekend regulars back again this year. The 2012 newcomers are very much appreciated as well. (Welcome aboard!) So a big THANK YOU to everyone who helped make FNCA Work Weekend 2012 so successful. We couldn't do it without you!

All Over the World — April 10, 2012

The FNCA Bulletin is in the Mail

For those of you who opted to receive it by mail, the brand-new 2012 FNCA Bulletin should show up in your mailbox very, very soon!

Bulletin senior editor Beki Greenwood once again did an excellent job: this one looks as good as all the others she's done. She successfully juggled several sections around a bit for efficiency and clarity. Full color photos are artfully arranged throughout, giving life to the text. The standard features have all been thoroughly edited and updated. The new material is enjoyable and informative. Not to mention the aerial photography.

Anytown EARTH — March 1, 2012

Online Registration Is Now Open!

Your FNCA Summer Session Committee decided to open online registration for camp despite the fact that the bulletin isn't out yet. In the past, registration opened whenever the bulletin was mailed out, however now that we have online registration, the SSC couldn't come up with any good reason to wait.

Although those who prefer to register by mail will have to wait for the bulletin to arrive in their mailbox, anyone who prefers to REGISTER ONLINE can now do so.

Jason's first announcement --- which was met by cheers and smiles all around --- was that BobbyAbesamra, our cook from last year, will be returning in 2012! Finding a new cook is often the director's most difficult pre-camp job, so this is both a relief to our new camp director, as well as good news for the rest of us since Bobby did a good job his first year and is both easy to work with and open to suggestions for improvements to the menu.

Lecture themes for the 2012 session will be:Week 1 (doctrinal theme): "The "Memorable Relations and How They Speak to Daily Life" covering the inter-chapter material in Swedenborg's Heavenly Secrets describing his experiences in Heaven.Week 2 (Biblical theme): "Descent of the Holy City" focusing on the Book of Revelations.
Fuller descriptions are on the Lecture Themes page.

We are very pleased to have accepted a proposal by the Rev. Dr. F. Gardiner Perry to lead the Opening Weekend Program this year. The program is titled "Spiritually Integrated Self-Care For Those Who Care For And About Others". From Rev. Perry's description: "Participants in this workshop will integrate their own unique spirituality into a self-care plan to enhance their capacity to care for others and to optimize their own well-being." For more info, go to the Opening Weekend Program page.

On a suggestion from more than one camper, the SSC has chosen Wilson Van Dusen's Uses: A Way of Personal and Spiritual Growthfor this year's Afternoon Book Club book. This delightful little booklet "explores practical usefulness and service as a powerful mode of spiritual practice and growth. It is a way of spiritual growth that can be practiced by all --- even those who feel they are useless. Readable, practical, and perceptive, Uses is a long-time favorite among readers of Van Dusen." More info is on the Afternoon Book Club page.

The committee also spent time discussing last year's camp survey. There was a 42% response rate (down from last year's 52%), with several interesting stats and lots of useful comments. Due to campers' responses, among other things, we will: beef up (pun intended) the vegetarian entrees and the salad bar this year, establish a midnight noise cut-off time for parties in Frank Hall, plan the Sales Table Auction and (if there's interest) the Old Lady Canoe Trip for earlier in the week, continue to have special evening activities frequently both weeks, have morning Sing Along lead directly into pre-chapel music without a break in between, and be more pro-active about requiring lecturers to stick to the 40-minute presentation time.

Speaking of lecturers, we also learned from the survey results that although everyone doesn't like all the lecturers (surprise, surprise), all of the lecturers are someone's favorite. We are very glad to learn that due to the wide variety of lecturers and lecture styles, our lecture program is working very well for nearly all the people nearly all the time. We've always thought the FNCA has an excellent lecture program, and now we have concrete confirmation of that fact.

And finally, due to the fact that this is his first year in the position, our new camp director, Jason Greenwood, is requesting that anyone who wants a job at camp this summer --- especially the regulars, since he doesn't really know who you all are --- contact him as soon as possible if you'd like to work again this summer.

In his article, titled "From Long Island to Fryeburg Maine", Jim describes their involvement with the good old FNCA from their initial inspiration by Adrienne Frank (after whom Frank Hall is named) at the New York New Church 18 years ago to the present day.

His delightful descriptions of daily life at camp are both encompassing and from a noticeably different perspective than most recent Messenger articles about our beloved camp.

Thanks, Jim, for a great article!

P.S. Monthly issues of the Messenger can be downloaded for free here: <http://www.swedenborg.org/library/collateralliterature/libraryperiodicals/messenger.aspx>

If you would like to receive the Messenger in the mail (free to members of Convention), send your name and mailing address to:

Members and friends of the Assembly gathered in Whitehead Hall at 1:30 today to conduct the Assembly's business at the FNCA's 2011 Annual Meeting. Minutes were read, reports were given, elections were held, but the biggest news is that our beloved camp director of many years, Debbie Cook, is stepping down.

The three outgoing Trustees were all re-elected, so there is no change in the members of the Board of Directors. However, never one to shirk work, outgoing camp director Debbie Cook couldn't stop herself from volunteering to be the Board's new secretary taking over those duties from Jesse White, who ably served in that capacity for a good five years. (Thanks, Jesse!) (Thanks, Debbie, too!)

The Board of Directors met briefly before the Annual Meeting to take care of some essentials like voting in new Assembly members (so they could vote at the meeting), updating the meeting agenda, etc.

After the Annual Meeting, the Board re-convened to discuss/act on the happenings of the Annual Meeting, as well as to take care of other, less pressing business including: electing officers, filling all Board-appointed positions, other standard Directors' agenda items, and other business old and new.

One new order of business for the Board was establishing the FNCA Outreach Committee as an official committee of the Assembly. Up until now, this group has been operating as an unofficial committee of volunteers. Under the new setup, 7 official voting members appointed by the Board to staggered 4-year terms make up the core of this committee. Everyone else interested in helping with FNCA outreach is welcome to participate as much or as little as they want at their own discretion as non-voting Outreach Committee members.

The members of the FNCA Outreach Committee are the people who bring you the camp bulletin, website, Facebook pages, Messenger articles, and the brand new free-standing portable FNCA display (that some of you may have seen at Convention), among other things. By the way, the Outreach Committee is actively seeking members from any of our various local churches across the continent who may be interested in hosting the FNCA display at their local church for a month or two during the next year.

Other Board agenda items included a more active Fundraising Committee; ongoing, systematic replacing of aging roofs; complete replacement of our out-of-date fire alarm system; accessibility of our bylaws; setting up an online spreadsheet to keep track of donations to the Assembly and establishing a built-in system that ensures all the donors get proper thank you letters; as well as other details too numerous to mention.

Fryeburg ME — Tuesday, July 26, 2011

GETTING CAMP READY FOR CAMP

The first of the camp set-up crew arrived today, with more showing up tomorrow. The first food delivery truck got unloaded and packed into the walk-in fridge and the dry goods shelves today.

With great thanks to the Mass. Association, the FNCA got a couple truckloads of free stuff from Blairhaven before its purchase by the Town of Duxbury this week (who plan on turning it into a town park).

This truckload included: 2 double on the bottom and twin on the top bunkbeds and 6 twin single beds, all with nearly brand new mattresses and box springs; a nearly new refrigerator; outdoor tables and chairs for the porch and deck; an 8' table for the dining hall; lots of commercial-style kitchen equipment including stainless steel mixing bowls, large baking sheets, 2 large cast iron frying pans, and various utensils; as well as fans and lamps and other smaller sundries.

It's worth noting that they saved room in the truck to fit Blairhaven's beautiful upright Steinway piano as a gift to the Turley's, who served as Blairhaven's first resident directors.

Today, a much smaller crew (Trevor & Nancy Little with assists from Herb Zeigler) gathered and filled a much smaller truck with waste baskets, linens, floor lamps, more kitchen stuff, and other smaller things.

So although it is sad for some to say goodbye to Blairhaven, it is nice to know that one of Blairhaven's sister New Church camps will get more mileage out of her estate. So a big thanks goes out to the Mass. Association for sharing, and to all the people who helped make this work.

Fryeburg ME — Tuesday, May 31, 2011

A LOT OF WORK GOT DONE!

Over Work Weekend, more than 2 dozen volunteers got a mighty lot of work done fixing up the Assembly grounds! Five big projects and a whole bunch of smaller ones got done.

The big projects were: putting a new metal roof on the Woof Cabin, taking down Pop Woof's old tool shed on the front of the Woof Cabin, building a wall upstairs in the cook's quarters creating a hallway and a private room for the cooks, removing a huge tree that came down across the road to the cabins in the woods, and major updates on this website.

The smaller projects included repairing screens all over camp, patching and sweeping the roof over the kitchen, unloading a 500 lb. fireproof filing cabinet for FNCA records, unloading a foosball table for Chalmers Lodge, moving mini fridges around, cabin cleaning, replacing light bulbs, fixing a door, raking, and plumbing repairs among other things.

22 people have signed up for the FNCA's Buildings & Grounds Committee's annual Work Weekend, May 27-30, and the first of them have already arrived. Them's that knows claim this is the biggest work crew we've ever had, which is good because there's always plenty of work to be done!

Two big projects this year include putting a metal roof on the Woof Cabin and building a new wall in the Cook's Quarters upstairs in the Main Building creating a hallway allowing for walk-through from the Girls Dorm to the rooms at the other end of the building. Besides increasing access, this will also provide another fire exit from the 2nd floor.

Besides these two projects, there's the usual plumbing and electrical work to be done, cabins to be jacked up, furniture to be moved around, cabin cleaning, tree work, and myriad smaller tasks that all together contribute to keeping the Assembly's buildings and grounds happy, healthy, functional, and in good working order.

Also this weekend, the FNCA registrar will be doing an inventory of sorts of all the cabins and rooms to find out where new beds and mattresses, dressers, and other furniture are needed; and the FNCA webmaster will be doing major updates on the FNCA website.

So a big THANKS in advance to our 22 volunteers and to the Building & Grounds Committee for all the work that will be done over the long Memorial Day Weekend!

By the way, it's not too late to participate: anyone else who would like to attend, please contact Colgate Searle at searleandsearle@cox.net or phone the Assembly at 207-935-2338just so we know you're coming and can be sure we have enough food for everyone.

Fryeburg ME — Monday, May 2, 2011

REGISTRATION IS NOW OPEN!

ATTENTION CAMPERS: Registration for this summer's session of the Fryeburg New Church Assembly is now open! The FNCA bulletin is at the printers and will be mailed out very soon.

If you want to register by mail just fill in and return the registration form in the bulletin or down load the appropriate form(s) from the bottom of the How to Register page. Be sure to either include your deposit in the envelope or pay your deposit online.

If you want to register online, we are now taking registrations and deposits online. Just go to the How to Register page and follow the proper links.

Fryeburg ME — Saturday, January 22, 2011

The FNCA Board of Directors held its mid-winter meeting at Board member Bob Perry's Elephant Walk restaurant in Waltham MA. The entire Board was present as well as a few guests. Although there was a very full agenda, it was completed before the scheduled time to adjourn.

As is often the case with meetings, there were lots of details large and small to talk about. Some of the major points of discussion and/or decisions reached include:

• It's now official: Camp dates this year are Saturday, July 30 - Sunday, August 14, 2011.• The 2011 rates will be $1 higher than last year across the board, and the cabin fee will be a flat $10 per cabin instead of a per person rate.
• Work Weekend will once again be held Memorial Day weekend this year, May 28-30. Please contact Buildings & Grounds Committee chair Dave Richardson if you are planning to attend.
• The Assembly is looking for a volunteer cleaning crew of campers willing to come a day or two early to help with the pre-session cleaning of cabins and the Main Building.
• The FNCA Bulletin is scheduled to be mailed out the beginning of May at which time campers should also be able to register online this year.
• To make Whitehead Hall wheelchair accessible, the Building & Grounds Committee will make a removable ramp for the deck entrance for use this summer until a permanent solution is put in place. They will also look into making the first floor bathroom off of the Dole Wing more accessible.
• In response to their request, the (unofficial) FNCA outreach committee was encourage to submit a formal proposal on becoming an official FNCA committee.
• Jesse White's proposal to do a Yankee Candle Co. fundraiser for the Assembly was accepted.

A big THANK YOU to the Board for all their hard work, their dedication, and for their willingness to donate time and energy to our wonderful summer camp. And another big THANK YOU to Bob Perry for hosting the meeting and serving the Board a most delicous lunch!

Riverside RI — Friday, January 21, 2011.

The FNCA Summer Session Commitee(SSC) met at the home of FNCA Religious Education Director Rev. Susannah Currie for 2+ hours this evening. The SSC is the people who put together the camp program each year. The SSC usually meets the evening before the FNCA mid-winter Board meeting. Most of us are also Board members, so it's a convenient meeting time; plus there are usually things we need to discuss before presenting them to the Board.

Our meeting agenda included review of last year's session, the new Opening Weekend Program, the new Senior Flames category, the 2010 Camper Survey results, staffing, food, and establishing a standard agenda format among other things.

Both the the Opening Weekend Program and the new Senior Flames category worked very well, so we will continue these two successful initiatives.

A new addition to our program this summer will be our Afternoon Book Club (ABC). Each day, interested people will read and discuss a book relevant to our church. Rev. Currie has chosen Wilson Van Dusen's Returning to the Source: The Way to the Experience of Go